U-M nominates six for Rhodes, Marshall, Mitchell scholarships

U-M nominates six for Rhodes, Marshall, Mitchell scholarships

Six U-M students have been nominated this year by the Provost's Council on Student Honors to compete at the national level for the prestigious Rhodes, Marshall and Mitchell scholarships.

Each year thousands of accomplished students vie for the scholarships, but only 32 will attend Oxford as Rhodes Scholars, 40 have the option to study at various United Kingdom institutions as Marshall Scholars, and 15 are selected for study at Irish universities as Mitchell Scholars.

Provost Martha Pollack is hosting a reception to honor the university's nominees at 5:30 p.m. Monday in the Willis Ward Lounge of the Michigan Union.

Students who want to know more about applying for the scholarships are invited to the reception. Nominees will speak and members of the Provost's Council will be available to talk with students who are considering applying in the future.

"Being nominated for one of these scholarships is a tremendous achievement. Applicants must have a stellar academic record as well as substantial success outside of the classroom," said Robert Sellers, vice provost for equity, inclusion and academic affairs, and sponsor of the council.

"Our nominees are active in a wide array of activities on campus and beyond. They exemplify the qualities of leadership that are the hallmark of Rhodes, Marshall and Mitchell scholars."

The 2014-15 U-M nominees are:

• Kevin Bain of Northville, Michigan, will graduate in May 2015 with a Bachelor of Arts in comparative literature in LSA and a Bachelor of Business Administration in international business from the Stephen M. Ross School of Business.

A member of the varsity men's swimming and diving team, he is a two-time recipient of the Big Ten Distinguished Scholar Award for student athletes.

Bain has studied in Germany and China and is interested in international development, particularly the role that cultures play in the development process. He is nominated for the Rhodes Scholarship.

• Ana Guay of Brooklyn, New York, will receive her Bachelor of Arts in classical languages and literatures from LSA in May 2015.

She works as a peer writing instructor at the Sweetland Center for Writing. This fall she is teaching a course she developed to introduce first-year honors program students to paratexts (marginalia, footnotes, etc.) in both classical and modern material.

Guay is interested in applying modern literary and translation theory to both classical literature and contemporary Paraguayan literature. She is nominated for the Marshall Scholarship.

• Zeinab Khalil, from Toledo, Ohio, received her Bachelor of Arts with highest distinction in international relations and Middle Eastern Affairs from LSA in May 2014.

The recipient of a Davis Projects for Peace Award, she has spent the past three months working with Syrian refugee women in Antakya, Turkey. Khalil has also conducted research in Egypt, at the Century Foundation and at the Brookings Institution.

As a U-M student, she was president of the Muslim Students' Association and a columnist for The Michigan Daily. She is nominated for the Rhodes Scholarship.

• Stephanie Leitzel of Romeo, Michigan, is an LSA student majoring in history and will receive her Bacholor of Arts in May 2015.

Her interests include medieval and early modern studies, German and Celtic studies. Leitzel will teach a first-year honors course examining barbaric kingdoms in the winter term. Her research interests focus on the development of ethnic identities in medieval Ireland.

Leitzel is a 2014 recipient of the Beinecke Scholarship for graduate study and is nominated for the Mitchell Scholarship.

• David Moore, from Holland, Michigan, received his Bachelor of Science in Engineering in mechanical engineering at U-M in 2014 and is now a graduate student in the College of Engineering.

As an undergraduate he used his engineering design skills to develop a wheelchair backpack mechanism that allows chair users to store a backpack behind them and swing it to the side when needed.

A four-year member of the varsity men's swimming and diving team, Moore served as a captain in his senior year. He is nominated for the Rhodes and Marshall scholarships.

• James Nadel of Pelham, New York, is an LSA history major with a minor in museum studies. He will receive his Bachelor of Arts in May 2015.

Nadel's academic work focuses on cultural diversity and cultural tolerance. He has studied the legacy of convivencia in contemporary Spain. Nadel is interested in drawing the public into history and, with experience in educational theater, began to do so while working at The Cloisters in New York.

He currently serves as the managing editor of the Michigan Journal of History. He is nominated for the Marshall Scholarship.